554 BKITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



until April 1st (Pearson), another batch found on a sallow twig at 

 Braunton hatched April 23rd, 1893 (Bartlett). One egg hatched about 

 10 p.m. on April 21st, 1900 (batch from Folkestone), the remainder 

 between 9 p.m. -11 p.m. the following day, practically the whole lot 

 being out by noon. On April 27th, 1900, another batch (on same 

 twig as former one) produced one larva, two or three on the 28th, 

 more on the 30th, whilst the remainder appeared on May 1st. 

 Keaumur observed that eggs laid on rose-bushes hatch some weeks 

 earlier (often quite early in April) than when laid on peach-trees, &c. 

 Hawes once found a cluster of eggs laid around the fruit stalk of a 

 pear. 



Ovum. — The manner in which the eggs are laid make it difficult to 

 determine the shape of each egg, but the eggs appear (from above) to con- 

 sist of loose, roughly circular bags, with a central, raised, life-belt look- 

 ing structure placed on the top (the micropylar end) of each, this latter 

 rather wider than the lower portion of the egg, and, therefore, extends 

 beyond it. The central portion of this upper piece is depressed, dark 

 brown in colour, with the true micropyle prominent as a minute raised 

 button, with a distinct lateral black point in the middle of the 

 depression. The eggs are white in colour, the exposed parts strongly 

 grooved rather than reticulated. The most striking feature of the egg- 

 mass, however, is the brown gummy-looking material, in which the 

 eggs are firmly embedded, and which, dried, looks like irregular pieces 

 of membrane between them. Looked at sideways, it is seen that the 

 lower part of the egg (i.e., the part below the structure previously said 

 to resemble a life-belt) is cylindrical in shape and brown in colour, the 

 latter again being due to the gum in which the eggs are embedded. 

 Beaumur writes (Mem., ii., p. 96) : La forme de chaque ceuf tient de 

 celle d'une piramide tronquee a quatre faces qui ne sont pas bien 

 planes ; elles ont quelque rondeur, et elles se rencontrent par cles angles 

 obtus. La piramide est posee de maniere que la partie de l'oeuf, qui 

 est visible, est la base de cette piramide, et que le bout oil la piramide 

 est tronquee, est le plus proche de la branche, a la circonference de 

 laquelle les. axes de ces piramides sont perpendiculaires. II suit de la 

 figure de ces oeufs qu'ils ne se touchent que par quelques endroits 

 de leur bord exterieur ; qu'ils sont, surtout, separes les uns des 

 autres vers leur bout le plus proche de la branche de l'arbre. Tons 

 les vuides qu'ils laissent entre eux sont remplis par la gomme dont 

 nous avons parle, dans laquelle ils sont tous enchasses et commesertis. 

 Le lit de gomme dans lequel ils sont loges va par de-la leurs bouts, et 

 les empeche de toucher l'ecorce de l'arbre. 



Habits of larva. — The larvae leave the egg by an aperture made in 

 the micropylar area, and at once commence to spin a web, in (or on) Avhich 

 they live gregariously, enlarging it as they have to spread out further 

 for food, but remaining in groups until the last instar, after which they 

 live solitarily until pupation. Batzeburg noticed that when the larvaa 

 hatched in cold weather they remained some days on the egg-ring. 

 From one batch of eggs it will often be found that several colonies have 

 originated, and that these are not united by any close connecting band 

 of web. It frequently happens, too, that (? freshly-moulted) larva? may 

 be seen in numbers, lying side by side on the stems of trees or bushes, 

 without much web, and stragglers of various ages may be found 

 scattered about solitarily, although the fact remains that the larvae 



